The Brookhaven leader., 1887-04-07
TALMAGE'S SERMON.
a Timely Discourse on the Signifi-
canoe of the Deluge.
An Urgent Plea to sinners TO Enter the Ark
OF Safety-The Doors Open to ALL
a Broad-Guage Gospel and
safe Haven.

Rev I. Dewitt Tslmags. during his re
sent Western tour, delivered the followin,
sermon al Des Moines, Ia, on "The Signifi
lance Of the Deluge," taking for his text
Come thou and all thy house into the ark
SCneSe vii
Inc eloquent preacher said:
We do not need the Bible TO prove thu
Deluge. The biologists hammer an
uounces it. Sea shells and marine forma
tions on the top Of some OF the highest
mountains of the earth prove that ut some
time the waters washed over the top o.
the Alps and Andes. In what way the
catastrophe came, We know not-whetheI
by the stroke Of q comet. or. by flashes OF
lightning changing the air into water, OF
by a stroke of the hand Of God, like the
stroke Of the ak between the horns of the
OF. the earth staggered. To meet the
catastrophe, God ordered great ship
built. II was to be without prov, for il
was to sail TO no shore. II was
to be without helm, for no human
hand should guide 1t. II was a vast struct-
ure, probably as. large as two or three
Cunard steamers. 1t was the Great East
Urn of olden time The ship is done. The
door is open. The lizards crawl in. The
cattle walk in. The grasshoppers hop in.
The birds fly in. The invitation goes forth
10 Noah:
Come thou and all thy house into the arb.
just one human family embark on the
strange voyage, and hear the door slam
shut. great storm sweeps along the
hills and bends the cedars until all the
is moan in the wind like unto
the moan OF dying world
The blackness of the heavens is shattered
ty the fare of the lightnings, that look
down into the waters, and throw ghast-
iiuess on the face of the mountains How
strange it looks How suffocating the air
seems! The big drops of rain plash upon
the upturued faces of those who are
watching the tempest Crash! go the
rocks in convulsion BOoml go the burst
ing heavens. Theinha5itants of the earth,
instead Of fleeing to the hcuse-top and
mountain-top, as men have fancied, sit
down in dumb, white horror to die. For
when God grinds mountains to pieces, and
lets the ocean slip its cable, there is no
place for men to fly to. See the ark pitch
and tumble in the surf; while from its
windows the passengers look out upon
the shipwreCk Of a race and the carcasSes
of dead world. Woe to the mountainsl
Woe to the seat
lam no alarmist When. on the Goth OF
pNtIhbctN dllcE int VIM udS lOE llICG
days been blowing from the northeast
you prophesy that the equinoetial storm
is coming, YOU simply state fact not tC
be disputed Neither am / an alarmist
when l say that storm is coming com
pared with which Noahs deluge was but
an April shower; and that it is the wisest
and safest for you and for me to get safe
iy housed for eternity. The invitation
that went forth to Noah sounds in our
ears:
Come thou and all thy house into the ark.
Well how did Noah and his family come
into the ark; Did they climb in at the
window. or come down the roo1i
No, they went through the door.
And just 50, if we get into the ark OF
Gods me Fey, it will be through Christ
the door. The entrance to the ark
If old must have been Il very large
entrance, We know that il was. from the
TACT that there were monster animals in
the earlier ages; and, in order to GIT
them into the ark two and two, acoording
TO the Bible statement, the door must have
been very wide and very high. So the
door into the mercy Of God is a large
door. We 90 in, not two By two but by
hundreds, aud by thousands, and by mill
ions. Yes, all the nations Of the earth
The door of the ancient ark was in the
side. So now it is through the side of
Chriat-the pierced side, the wlde-open
side, the heart ,side.that we enter Anal
the Roman soldier, thrusting his spear
into the Saviour's side, expected only TO
let the blood. ont. but he opened the way
to let all the world in. . what broad
gospel TO preach! If man is about to
give an entertainment, he issues
one hundred or two hundred in
vitations, carefully put up and
directed to the particular persons whom
ne wishes to entertain. But God our Faith
er makes a banquet, and GOES out to the
front door of heaven. and stretches out
his hands over land and sea, and with
voice that penetrateS the Hin too Jungle,
and the Greenland ice-castle, AMI Brazil
ian groves. and English factory, and
American home, cries out:
Come, for all thing are now ready.
1t is wide door. Tic old cross has been
taken apart, and ifs Two pieces are stood
up for the door-posts, so far part that all
the world can come in. Kings scatter
treasures on days of great - jpicing. So
Christ, our King, comes and scatterS the
Jewels of Heaven.
Rowland Hill Said that he hoped 10 get
into heaven through the crevces of the
door. But he was not obliged thus to go in.
After having preached the gospel in Sur
rev Chapel, going up toward heaven, the
gate-keeper cried:
Lift up your head,ye everlasting gates,
and let this man come in"
The dying thief went in. Richard Bax-
ter and Robert Newton went in. Europe
Asia, Africa, North and South America,
may yet go through this wide door with
out crowding. Ho, every one, all condi
tons all ranks all peoplcsi
Luther said that this truth was wort4
carrying on ones knees from Rome to
Jerusalem: but think il worth carrying
all around the globe, and all around the
heavens, that
God so loved the world that he gave his only
begotten son. that whatsoever, believeth in him
should not perish, but have everlasting life.
Whosoever will, let him come through
the large door.
Archimedes wanted a fulcrum on which
TO place his lever, and then he said tina
he could move the world Calvary is the
fulcruIn. and the cross Of Christ is The
lever; and by that power all nations shall
yet be lifted
Further: ltls door that swings: boil
ways. do not know whether the door o
the ancient ark was lifted, or rolled OF
hinges; but this door of Christ open
both ways 1t swings out toward all gu
woes it swings in toward the raptures o
heaven. 1t swings III TO let us in;
swings out to let our ministering one
come out. All are one in Christ-Chris
tians on earth and saints in heaven.